Floats for spreading concrete or the like



July 14, 1964 A. PILLA 3,140,500

FEoATs EOE SPREADING CONCRETE 0E THE LIKE Filed April so, 1963 2Sheets-sheet 1 'ggffu/ 0000000 00000000 @000000000 000000000 0000000000000000000 0004000000000 3 0000000 0 f 0000000 0 l 0/00,0

.000NU y BY ZA 2 July 14, 1964 A. PlLLA 3,140,500

FLOATS FOR SPREADING CONCRETE OR THE LIKE Filed April 30, 1963 2Sheets-Sheet 2 @4. v H7 Z O OO OO O` O o O o 0100 0 0 0 0 0 0000 000000000000000000300 00010010330 ff ogclooomo f5 o 0.o y f o@ 0o 0 ooloo oooo oo dooo Pico@ 0o oo OOO O O INV ENTOR.

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United States Patent O vice 3,140,500 FLOATS FOR SPREADING CONCRETE RTHE LIKE Anthony Pilla, 474 Jacksonville Road, Hatboro, Pa. Filed Apr.30, 1963, Ser. No. 276,765 2 Claims. (Cl. 15235.4)

This invention relates to tools for Working concrete, plaster and likematerial, and more particularly to a oat for spreading the material andforming a smooth surface thereon.

Various forms of iioats have been proposed for working concrete, forexample, to spread it along a walk, along floors of swimming pools andother excavations in the ground, for lining walls of such excavations orof embankments, etc. The most commonly used ioats are made with a woodenbase or working block having a continuous surface which the operatorlays against the concrete to spread and surface the same as hemanipulates the block back and forth. Such wooden blocks wear out veryquickly, often wearing away to `the point of being useless after but asingle days use. A wooden float that lasts as much as three days isconsidered in the trade as having had a long, useful life. Moreover,because of the granular nature of Wood, the smooth working surface of awooden block quickly becomes rough and irregular under the abrasiveaction of concrete, and it therefore becomes difficult to finish off theconcrete with a good, smooth surface when using a iioat with such ablock.

To overcome the aforementioned disadvantages of wooden block oats, ithas been proposed tomake the blocks out of metal, such as steel.However, metal block floats are much heavier than wooden block floats,and they tire the workers using them much more rapidly than do woodenblock floats. Moreover, the cost of metal block oats is much greaterthan that of wooden block oats, and in many cases without a comparableincrease in life. In addition, the improvement in surface quality of theconcrete linished with metal block floats having initially smooth,continuous working surfaces has not been considered suflicient in thetrade to justify the additional cost. This is especially true when it isconsidered that workers using metal block floats necessarily slow downconsiderably in performance because of the heavier floats which theymust handle when using metal block iioats.

The primary object of my invention is to provide improved oats having abase or working block that is not subject to the aforementioneddisadvantages of Wooden and metal blocks.

More particularly, it is an object of my invention to provide, in lioatsuseful for the purposes set forth, novel base blocks that will have along, useful life.

Another object of my invention is to provide improved iioats which arerelatively light in weight, which can be manipulated by workers withease, and which will not unduly tire workers over extended periods ofuse.

Still another object of my invention is to provide improved oats areaforesaid which can be used not only to effectively spread concrete,plaster or the like over a support and provide a relatively rough orcoarse surface for the same, but which can also be used thereafter toimpart to the surface a smooth finish.

A further object of my invention is to provide improved floats as aboveset forth which can be fabricated easily, and which are inexpensive incost, especially when considered in the light of their vastly increasedlife expectancy compared to the life of previously known floats.

It is also an object of my invention to provide improved floats asaforesaid which are highly eliicient in use, and which require a minimumof care and attention to keep them in good working condition.

3,140,500 Patented July 14, 1964 In accordance with the presentinvention, I form the float blocks out of acrylic resins such as thosemarketed by Rohm & Haas Co., of Philadelphia, Pa., under the trade namePlexiglas, or those marketed by E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., ofWilmington, Delaware, under the trade name Lucite These materials aresolid, rigid forms of polymethacrylates which are hard and tough, whichare resistant to heat, Weather, abrasion and crazing, and which arechemically resistant to commonly used solvents and oils; yet they can bemachined, cut, drilled and otherwise worked mechanically to desiredform. I have found that the foregoing characteristics of the indicatedmaterials make them admirably suited for use as float base blocks of thetype mentioned above. Float base blocks made of these materials haveapproximately the same weight per unit volume as do wooden floatsnormally used in the trade and therefore impose no additional Weightburden on workers using them.

In accordance with another feature of the present invention, I provide,in the working surfaces of these oat base blocks, a plurality ofdepressions, preferably in the form of regularly occurring grooves orchannels at spaced points thereover, such depressions preferably beingformed with sharp edges or corners. These grooves or channels provide,over the working surfaces of the blocks, a plurality of working elementswhich are highly effective in spreading the coating material (i.e.,concrete, plaster, or the like) uniformly over the surface to which thematerial is applied. In some instances, the coating material surfaceprovided by such float blocks may be relatively coarse. According toanother feature of the invention, one or more of the peripheral edges ofthe block may be beveled or rounded and used to finish oif the coatingmaterial surface with a relatively fine, smooth surface.

The novel features of the invention, both as to its organization andmethod of operation, as well as additional objects and advantagesthereof, will be more readily apparent from the following description,when read in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. l is a perspective view of one form of float according to thepresent invention,

FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view of the float of FIG. 1 and showing oneembodiment of the working surface of .the base block thereof,

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary, sectional View taken along the line3-3 of FIG. 2 and viewed in the direction of the appended arrows,

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but showing another embodiment of thebase block,

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 4 and viewedin the direction of the appended arrows,

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary, sectional view similar to FIG. 5 but showing asomewhat modified form of the base block of FIGS. 4 and 5, and

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIGS. 2 and 4 but showing still anotherembodiment of the base block.

Referring more particularly first to FIGS. 1 3, there is shown a iioat 1having a base block 3 to the upper surface of which a handle 5 issecured in any suitable manner, as by bolts and nuts 7. The base blockis made of a hard synthetic material of approximately the same densityas the wood used heretofore for such blocks, but which is not subject tothe rapid wear and distortion of wood. Preferably, the base block 3 ismade of a hard, rigid polymethacrylate resin such as Plexiglas orLucite, both identified hereinbefore as to characteristics which, I havefound, make them admirably suitable materials from the standpoints ofwear, long life and efiiciency.

The block 3 is formed with a plurality of discrete depression 9 whichextend into the body of the block from,

and are distributed regularly about, the working surface thereof (i.e.,the surface which engages the coating material to be spread by thefloat). In the form shown in FIGS. l to 3, these depressions comprise aplurality of grooves or channels which extend into the block a distanceshort of the thickness thereof and which intersect each other to providea plurality of discrete working elements 11. The block, itself, ispreferably made of 1/2 inch stock and may be about 111/2 inches long andabout 45/8 inches wide. This provides a block comparable in weight toconventional Wooden block floats with which workers are familiar and towhich they are accustomed. The grooves or channels 9 may be from 1A;inch to 1A inch in depth. In the form shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, thechannels 9 comprise two sets of regularly spaced, parallel grooves whichintersect or cross each other and which are angularly related so as toprovide diamondshaped working elements 11. Other shapes of workingelements are, of course, possible, depending on the shapes of thechannels and how the channels 9 are related to each other. In any case,the channels 9 are cut to provide sharp, peripheral edges for each ofthe working elements 11. Thus, as the oat is moved over the surface ofthe concrete or the like, these sharp edges act somewhat in the mannerof a spatula in spreading the concrete evenly. This is further enhancedby reason of the fact that the sharp, peripheral edges of each of thediamond-shaped working elements 11 extend in dilicerent directions sothat they cut the concrete at various angles as the oat is movedthereover.

In the form of the invention shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the depressions area plurality of holes 13 which are distributed regularly over the entireworking surface of the block 3 and preferably extend thereinto from theworking surface thereof a distance short of the thickness of the block.As in the case of the channels 9, the peripheral edges of the holes 13are made sharp at the working surface of the block. The holes 13 may becircular, as shown in FIG. 4, or they may be in the form of ovals or inany other arcuate form so that their sharp, peripheral edges will extendin different directions at different portions thereof.

In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the working surface of theblock 3 in which the holes 13 are formed does not extend to theperipheral edge of the block but is surrounded or bounded by a marginalarea 15 inwardly of the block periphery. This marginal area is beveledeither along a plane, as in FIGS. 4 and 5, or along a transverse curveor arc, as in FIG. 6, to provide smooth, marginal finishing areas. Thus,a worker can use the working surface of the block having the holes 13 orother depressions thereover to initially spread the concrete or plasterand provide a relatively rough or course surface therefor. He can thenfinish off the surface to a relatively smooth or ne finish with one oranother of the smooth, marginal areas.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the depressions in the workingsurface of the block 3 comprise a plurality of regularly occurring,intertwined or intersecting annular channels 17. These channels may beof circular, elliptical, or any other suitable form, and they are,again, formed with sharp edges at the working surface of the block. Thechannels 17 extend into the block a distance short of the thicknessthereof, and within the contines of each of the circular channels is atleast one discrete, relatively large working element 19. In the case ofcertain of the arcuate channels, there are also additional, smallerworking elements 21 of generally elliptical shape. If desired, thelarger elements 19 may be provided with holes 23 similar to the holes13. As in the case of the previously described embodiments, the edges ofall of the working elements 19 and 21 and at the holes 23 extend invarious directions and are made sharp to enhance operation of the float.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that there have beenprovided improved floats which will have a long life, which can bemanipulated by a Worker as easily as conventional wooden block oats, andwhich are highly eliicient in use. After a period of use, if the variousgroove, channel or hole edges should become dull, the edges can beresharpened easily, as by regrooving. This, plus the properties of thematerials out of which the blocks are made, insures a greatly extendeduseful life for them. Whereas oats having wooden blocks, as in the priorart, generally have a useful life of from one to three days, blocksaccording to the present invention will be found to have a useful lifeof up to six months or so under similar conditions of use.

Although several embodiments of the improved oats have been described,it will undoubtedly be apparent to those skilled in the art that Variousother forms thereof, as well as other materials for the blocks, allcoming within the spirit of the present invention, are possible. Forexample, the blocks may be made of other hard, durable synthetic resins,such as Bakelite and Nylon. Also, the forms shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 andFIG. 7 may be made with beveled, marginal, smooth, nishing areas, ifdesired. Moreover, other forms of channels and finishing, marginal edgesmay be provided. These and other variations, all coming within thespirit of my invention, are possible. Hence, I desire that the foregoingshall be construed merely as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim as my invention:

1. A oat comprising a base block of hard, rigid, polymethacrylate resinand having a working surface formed with two sets of regularly spaced,parallel grooves therein, the grooves of one of said sets beingangularly related to the grooves of the other of said sets andintersecting said grooves of said other set to provide a plurality ofworking elements throughout said surface, the angular relation of saidtwo sets of grooves being such that said working elements arediamond-shaped, and said elements having sharp edges at said surfacealong said grooves.

2. A float according to claim 1 wherein said base block has a smoothmarginal area which is beveled relative to said working surface.

References Cited in the lile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS312,225 Sutton Feb. 10, 1885 405,396 Conrad et al June 18, 18891,071,758 Labelle Sept. 2, 1913 2,051,199 Christianson Aug. 18, 19362,410,343 Haivala Oct. 29, 1946 2,746,367 Ferguson May 22, 19562,757,491 Galey Aug. 7, 1956 2,907,146 Dyar Oct. 6, 1959 3,029,459Pruitt Apr. 17, 1962 FOREIGN PATENTS 5,648 Great Britain Apr. 14, 1915

1. A FLOAT COMPRISING A BASE BLOCK OF HARD, RIGID, POLYMETHACRYLATERESIN AND HAVING A WORKING SURFACE FORMED WITH TWO SETS OF REGULARLYSPACED, PARALLEL GROOVES THEREIN, THE GROOVES OF ONE OF SAID SETS BEINGANGULARLY RELTATED TO THE GROOVES OF THE OTHER OF SAID SETS ANDINTERSECTING SAID GROOVES OF SAID OTHER SET TO PROVIDE A PLURALITY OFWORKING ELEMENTS THROUGHOUT SAID SURFACE, THE ANGULAR RELATION OF SAIDTWO SETS OF GROOVES BEING SUCH THAT SAID WORKING ELEMENT AREDIAMOND-SHAPED, AND SAID ELEMENTS HAVING SHARP EDGES AT SAID SURFACEALONG SAID GROOVES.